FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's basketball team enters the final eight days of the regular season and faces three conference games during the stretch. The first of those contests is slated for Sunday, February 24 against Manhattan College, a 3:30 game at Alumni Hall. The match up will complete a basketball doubleheader that day as the Fairfield University women's basketball team hosts Iona College at 1 pm.

The Stags enter the home stretch of the season after suffering through a sweep in upstate New York last week, falling to Canisius by four points (72-68) and Niagara by five points (78-73). The newcomer duo of Landon Taliaferro and Neftali Alvarez combined for the top two spots in scoring against the Purple Eagles, netting 18 and 16 points, respectively. The performance marked the sixth time that the duo combined to be the top two Fairfield scorers in a game this year, averaging a combined 32.3 points in those games. The Stags scored 36 paint points against Niagara, after netting a season-best 48 points in the lane in the first meeting with the Purple Eagles. Fairfield scored 56 percent of its points against Niagara in the paint this year (84 of 150).

Taliaferro made four of eight three-point attempts last Sunday, giving him nine long-range shots in the last three games. He leads the team in scoring with a 12.0 scoring average while Alvarez places second with 11.5 points per game. Jonathan Kasibabu, tallied a team-best seven rebounds at Niagara, leads the team in that category with 7.5 per game. In the NCAA stats dated through February 22, Landon Taliaferro places 41st  in the nation with his .416 three-point field goal percentage, tied for 64th in total three-point field goals made (74), and tied for 63rd  in three pointers per game (2.85).  Kasibabu leads the MAAC in field goal percentage both overall and in conference play only. The senior made one  of six  field goal attempts at Niagara, which puts his field goal percentage at .564 in overall games and .605 in MAAC contests. Kasibabu ranks second in the MAAC for overall rebounding (7.5 per game) and third in MAAC games only (7.7 rpg).

The Jaspers held a two-point lead at halftime before Iona used a second-half surge that pushed the Gaels past Manhattan, 66-52 in Riverdale. With the score tied at 35, Iona put together a run of 11 points which eventually became an 18-2 run over seven minutes to open up a 53-37 lead. Manhattan scored the next six points to come within 10 points with 4:39 to play, but could not come any closer. Ebube posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Tykei Greene added a personal-best 16 points for the Jaspers. Warren Williams enjoyed an outstanding all-around game with 10 points, seven rebounds, and a career-high four blocks.

Manhattan plays two of its final three games in the Nutmeg State, sandwiching games against Fairfield and Quinnipiac around a home game with Monmouth on Friday night.Tyler Reynolds leads the team in scoring with 8.1 points per game with Williams sitting a very close second at 8.0 points every forty minutes. Ebube contributes a team-best 4.8 rebounds per game.

Game Promotions
Student T-Shirt Giveaway: The first 300 students in attendance receive a red Fairfield Stags t-shirt.

Class of 2020 Day co-sponsored by FUSA: Details to follow
 
Sunday Shootaround: All children are invited to a post-game shoot around on the court at Alumni Hall with the Stags. The team will also be signing autographs. Shootaround will follow Game 2 of the doubleheader.
 
All tickets are also valid for the Fairfield Women's Basketball game vs. Iona tipping off at 1 p.m.